Good and bad news on piracy front

THE good news is that piracy and armed robbery at sea has fallen to its lowest levels since 1995, according to a new report from the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Unfortunately, there are least at two lots of bad news. First, West Africa continues to be a danger area, with increasing numbers of attacks and kidnappings for ransom.

Secondly, in a separate report, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia says it is concerned about a spate of incidents involving the abduction of crew from ships while underway in waters off eastern Sabah and southern Philippines, which have occurred since March 2016.